The WNBA’s youngest team is keeping games close, stealing wins — and embracing the silly.
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There are teams in the WNBA with more experience. That have higher expectations. That are built to win this year and are striving to have significant success.
There may not, though, be a team having more fun than the Washington Mystics. Yes, the youngest team in the league is just 3-4 through its first seven games, and the growing pains aren’t likely to disappear anytime soon. But as the Mystics start to jell, their chemistry and joy are helping them keep things interesting.
The Mystics lost to the Dallas Wings and the Seattle Storm in back-to-back games, then rebounded to beat the Storm on Wednesday night in the second game out west. Though they lost to the Los Angeles Sparks on Friday night at CareFirst Arena, the five-point margin in the 92-87 defeat — while facing one of the most veteran-heavy teams in the league — felt to the team like another step forward.
“This is the situation we want to be in. Having multiple games where we’re competing in overtime, going up against L.A. who’s a team full of vets, it’s exciting,” forward Shakira Austin said Friday. “It’s exciting to be able to go out there and compete every day and just bring them along with me.”
Added Coach Sydney Johnson, “They think I’m a dad too much when I’m praising them for how they go about their business, but it’s amazing to watch them fight and stay together and face adversity and also hold themselves accountable.”
Austin, who at 25 would be a young player on most teams, is the Mystics’ second most veteran player. When she and second-year guard Sonia Citron arrived to meet with the media after Friday’s game, they were laughing and poking fun at each other, and the banter continued throughout their news conference.
“When we need to be pushed, she’ll be that person that’ll be on our a–,” Citron said while lauding Austin’s leadership. “That’s her. But then, at the same time, when we have to settle down or whatever, she’s kind of that calming voice, too, which is different. Usually she’s just the hype one.”
“Too hype,” Austin interjected, which drew a grin from Citron.
Later, Austin apologized to a reporter after forgetting the question she was asked. “I’m sorry,” Austin said, laughing. “Soni’s big muscles were distracting me. I forgot the first part.”
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When rookie Lauren Betts appeared on Sue Bird’s podcast last week, she briefly stunned the Storm legend into silence with her reveal of the team’s internal nickname.
“Do you feel like you guys have, like, good vibes? You’re all getting along, the chemistry is legit?” Bird asked.
“Oh yeah,” Betts replied. “We’re called the young hos.”
“I’m sorry, the young what?” Bird said, holding a hand to her ear like she was hoping she’d misheard Betts, while Betts repeated herself and laughed.
It was a silly moment on a podcast, but Betts’s comfort cracking jokes and showing off her sense of humor — and the nickname itself — highlights the Mystics’ youthful exuberance and camaraderie.
When they’re able to channel that energy on the court, they’ve proved to be a tougher team to beat so far this year than many expected at the outset of the season.
“It’s the chemistry that I love to jell around,” Austin said. “I like people who compete, and I think we’re starting to show that more on a consistent basis. To me, that’s exciting.”
Even as Friday’s game started to turn in Los Angeles’ favor in the fourth quarter, the Mystics fought to stay close and didn’t let the more experienced Sparks run them out of the building. For Johnson and his staff, demonstrating those characteristics and building chemistry as a team are more important this year than wins and losses. It’s part of their development.
“The entire team responded to being down 69-61 and shots not falling. You have no idea the mental toughness that takes, from a group that hasn’t been through it,” Johnson said. “We lost, I get it. But it was absolutely amazing to see how much they continue to trust and stay with what we’re trying to do.”
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